New family law reporting project aims to bring transparency to private court proceedings

A new three-year initiative will analyse family law cases to inform reform while maintaining strict privacy protections

A new Family Law Reporting Project is due to get underway in family courts across the country and is being modelled on the Child Law Project started in 2012 by former journalist Dr Carol Coulter. File photo

Work is underway on a new project aimed at introducing transparency to the family law arena.

Family law cases are bound by the in-camera rule, meaning such legal proceedings are held in private, mainly to protect the privacy of those involved.

A new Family Law Reporting Project is due to get underway in family courts across the country and is being modelled on the Child Law Project started in 2012 by former journalist Dr Carol Coulter.

A tender process for the project closed in September and the bid by the Child Law Project was selected for the new project. 

The project is expected to run for three years and will involve the publication of reports on the family law system, which is currently the subject of reform.

A new Children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project is also to be established in Waterford and Clonmel, aimed at providing children in guardianship, custody or access application cases to have their voice heard in the proceedings.

The Family Law Reporting Project will:

• Collect information on key aspects of family law cases to enable the compilation of statistics, such as timescales, types of order being sought, legal representation of the parties (both parties, one party, neither).
• Analyse the data collated and reporting on trends in family law cases to inform policymakers, the judiciary, legal practitioners and the public.
• Describe what kinds of orders are being sought and the reasons given for those requests.
• Capture the perspectives of the parties and witnesses in family law proceedings as can be determined from observations and court records.
• Document and summarise the decisions of the judge and the reasons being given.
• Synthesise the findings into accessible reports to enhance understanding, inform policy, and support transparency while safeguarding privacy.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said the aim of the new family law reporting project is to enhance transparency for the public about private family law proceedings and build confidence in the judicial determination of private family law disputes, while continuing to ensure the privacy of those proceedings for children and families.

He said: “I am confident this project will serve to further promote transparency and fairness in how family law proceedings are conducted. I also expect that it will produce key information for my department to support the ongoing development of family justice policy and legislation.” 

While representatives from the Child Law Project will be in courts to view proceedings for the reporting project, the Department of Justice said the “overall aim of the Family Law Reporting Project is to provide transparency for the public, while ensuring that children’s and parents’ rights to privacy are upheld”.